Where my stash money goes

July 31, 2018

I won't bore you with the details. Ribs are hit and miss. Good days and bad days.

I am so sorry that they stopped me from going to Dawn's funeral yesterday. It would have been more than 6 hours int he car and the car is still very uncomfortable at the moment and I just couldn't do it. I understand from Carly that it was a lovely service and a super turn out and she is kindly sending us an order of service. I sat quietly at the time of the funeral and held my own private little service for the loss of such a special friend.

The money raised for the bench was almost enough and we will top up the extra ourselves. Carly felt it would be too hard to have the bench where she would see it every day and so we are trying to get it erected at paradise Wildlife Park - a place they visited often and which Paul and Carly felt Dawn would like. Obviously when that happens I will post and let everyone know.

It has been quite quiet here. Ribs again.

I have some new scrapping to share though - even though I can only sit for short periods

This was another challenge page and very different for me. The papers were so pretty - just from a pad of papers from the range. I couldn't resist cutting out some of the hearts

And get me - paint splatters even when I didn't have to

This page celebrates my little girl Kira. She has had loads and loads of toys, all of which she plays with, but she has three babies - toys she had when she first came home at 12 weeks. A frog and two dogs. These three, Froggy and Doggie (1 and 2) are her babies. They go where she goes and as she foes where we go, they go wherever we are. They go down to the food bowl int he morning, they come up to the bedroom for breakfast, they come into the lounge int he evening. She flips them over so she carries them like kittens by the scruff of the neck and they have been mended more times than I can count. Froggy had to have a whole new panel sewn into his tummy. They are all considerably smaller than when they were new!

I loved it that it was cool one evening on the balcony and she enjoyed the respite from the heat, but she went back in to get her babies so they could be with us all int he cool of the evening too. Way too cute!!!

Today I am thankful for

some respite. There are times the ribs feel much better. There are times they are bad. I am focussing on the better times

my Kira (and Fiki of course)

that Dawn is laid to rest and that so many people attended the service. My prayers for Paula nd Carly continue

my wonderful husband who is being so kind and patient. I am not a good patient!

July 28, 2018

I had a bad night last night so I upped my dose of tramadol. The doctor said I could if I needed it and I have resisted - taking just the minimum dose to try and help the nights and grinning (well kind of) and bearing it during the day. I didn't sleep again and didn't want another day of pain so took extra this morning. My oh, my. The pain is almost gone (I mean I know it hasn't gone but I guess it just blocks the pain receptors so you don't feel it) but oh my do I feel peculiar. Vaguely nauseous, very sleepy and so spaced out. It is NOT a feeling I like and not sure I want to repeat the process again. It was nice to be pain-free but then I am also of the opinion that the pain is there for a reason, partly to remind you to be careful about what you do, and I could do without the spaced out feeling. Tis powerful stuff though. Maybe it will mean a decent night's sleep though ... I am planning on going to bed very very early. Let's maximise on the tiredness effect

Last night we went down to the beach to see the blood moon. Of course, we saw the exact same thing as most people in the UK. Nothing! After weeks of no clouds, the cloud cover was thick and we saw nothing. Did have a nice sunset and a good long walk though.

I finished a painting I have been doing today ... just for fun and because I fancied painting somewhere local

The colour looks much nicer in real life but it has been quite cloudy today to take photos. Cloudy and - we have had rain. I am guessing less than a millimetre but heck - more than we have had in weeks and weeks. And more is forecast tomorrow,

I also made another page for Summer Fiesta over at For the Love of Pretty paper. I am afraid I couldn't resist the title

Today I am thankful for

the tablets working - but not the spaced out feeling

a quiet day

cooler weather and a teeny drop of rain

my wonderful husband who is being an absolute star helping me with the things I cannot do at the moment

July 27, 2018

The rib painw as so much less. I felt like I was well ont he road to recovery.

I enjoyed a lovely long lunch with my work colleagues from Magna (one of them even drove me as that still is not on the agenda)

The heath fire was thankfully not near us and all was good with the world.

Then, for no apparent reason at all, my ribs said no - we are not letting you relax. We are not done with you yet!

I had an awful pain filled night maybe gettinga couple of hours sleep at best.

Today it has been painful all day - so much worse and no rhyme or reason for it.

But we soldiered on. I shopped for essentials with Nigel, I scrapped and I sat and watched the new Mission Impossible which was very good. I did fidgeta lot as I couldn't get comfortable so I was glad no-one was sat near us.

It looks like it is due a storm - very very very muggy and cloudy and dark. Let there be rain. Please.

The sad thing is it is cloudy and so possibly won't get to see the lunar eclipse and the blood moon and mars.

I did another prompt from the Shimelle layering class #layeringwithshimelle which also worked for FOTLOPP challenge os strawberry red again. Nigel and I looking stupidly young at the start of our lifelong romance

Today I am thankful for

a great day yesterday

lovely colleagues ... having had some in the past who were anything but, this is lovely to cherish

some better days (wish they all were but then I wouldn't appreciate the good if I didn't have the bad eh!)

July 25, 2018

We have had a birthday in the house and whilst the birthday girl wasn't up to much, she had a lovely time, quietly, spread over a couple of days.

We went to Southampton to pick up some frames at Ikea which was fun.

We had the most lovely cream tea in the New Forest at Holmsley Station tea rooms - an old station converted to a tea room. We shared a cream tea and a savory tea (I loved the savory best - cheese and chive scones) They had the most beautiful hanging baskets everywhere, tables shaded by huge parasols so it was cool and it was just lovely.

I am not sure Nigel should ever be allowed a cream tea again though as it sparked that old English debate of jam first or cream first. Clearly he was wrong!

anyone who is anyone know it is jam first cream last!

Yesterday a birthday treat was a Powertex Journal class and I loved it so much. I think it will be a new addicition. This was my journal - not fab as it was my first time playing with the products and techniques but it is not bad for a first effort

and I thought you might enjoy seeing how much fun it is to try and take photos at my house of anything without whiskers in the way

We also went to see Mama Mia 2 which was really very good and out for a birthday meal at Prezzo

All in all a fabulous few days and the best news is Nigel bought me a pottery day for my birthday. I have always always wanted to have a play with pottery and have a go on a potter's wheel and so we have a class booked for the two of us. And before anyone else suggests it - no we are not planning on re-creating Ghost!

I have also been scrapping and these are a couple of my recent pages

This was another for #layeringwithshimelle and was quite remarkable for me as it involved paint and splatter and mess and I simply don't DO that

and this was for a fun challenge at For the Love of Pretty Paper and it had to involve flamingos. See I KNEW those pictures would come in handy

Today I am thankful for

a slowly healing injury - it is a little easier. I think. But hard to be sure. It gets steadily worse as the day goes on and so by this time of day is pretty grim, but the mornings are much better. Nights are still hell

July 22, 2018

Today saw a job in Dorchester so we packed lunch and headed out. The job took just 15 minutes and so we headed to Thomas Hardy's cottage near Dorchester. We have been before, of course, but it was somewhere free to go as NT members and it was a lovely day. The walk through the woods was a bit intense for 'rib girl' but she managed it.

Always lovely to look round the cottage. I am a huge Thomas Hardy fan. loving his novels but loving his poetry even more. I was blessed to have his poetry book Wessex Tales and Tess of the D'Urbevilles as set books for A level. The rest of the books I did not enjoy nearly so much as they included Dombey and Son (I think the exam board just picked the thickest, most boring Dickens they could find), Middlemarch (I never did read it all but swore by Coles notes), Chaucer, Washington Square, North and South and two great Shakespeare's in Julius Caesar and Hamlet.

I have new scrapping to share too

This one is a digital page using Fayette Designs and made for the no photo challenge at Pickleberrypop

and this was a complimentary colour scheme page from Shimelle's class and both document my stupid cracked ribs.

Today I am thankful for

days out in the car - only place in this forsaken country with air conditioning

July 18, 2018

It is in the distance and is, as yet, quite a dim light, but it is there. I think!

We hit an all-time low with my ribs on Monday night but over the day Tuesday where I did absolutely NOTHING it eased and I slept better last night and it is less agonising today.

I have no idea why it suddenly became so much worse over Monday but I think, tentatively, I have turned a corner. I think!

I haven't been able to sit for any length of time and getting down paper packs and files and stuff has been beyond me so I have been restricted to laregly digital scrapping, which is OK as there has been so much lushness to scrap with. The Pickle Barrel products went live today and Oh my goodness they are gorgeous this month. The colours are wonderful.

I worked first with a gorgeous collection by Tiramisu called Garden of Dreams which was wonderful

I cannot believe that my wonderful godson and his beautiful wife have just celebrated their first wedding anniversary

Then I worked with the gorgeous Imagine That! collection by Fayette ... it has so many fun elements and I couldn't resist this page

Finally, I worked with an incredible collection by Lara's digital world called Vacation and it was truly gorgeous with so many masks and great elements

I made this page which documents our previous Disney World ... The Caribbean Beach resort. It truly was the most beautiful resort ever ... in the past tense sadly. It has now changed. They have taken away two villages, they are erecting a huge DVC monstrosity there and you can see the massive gondola stations everywhere. The secluded Caribbean vibe has changed for ever. I am so sad. However, we LOVE our new 'home' resort of Port Orleans Riverside. Anyway, I digress. This records the beauty that WAS the Caribbean Beach resort

Today I am grateful for

that light at the end of my tunnel

I love the new artificial flowers we bought for my pots (no watering - yey - I disapprove of watering)

my wonderful husband who has been so marvellous when I haven't been able to do stuff.

July 15, 2018

I had been so keen to go to the vintage fair on Poole Quay. Really looking forward to it.

Last night was baaaaaaad. My side/ribs/insides feel worse and I guess that is to be expected as muscle pain tends to get worse before it gets better and apart from the cracked ribs there is undoubtedly muscle and ligament damage.

But getting up, getting showered, getting dressed was an effort and we did manage to go to the fair but only managed to be there for an hour.

The pain killers are not touching it.

However, the fair was very good. Lots of happy smiling people, many dressed in gorgeous vintage clothes. It was hot and sunny and our home town. There were also great vintage cars to enjoy and some super stalls to browse.

The first photo is very special. When I was a little girl my Dad had a Ford Zodiac in this colour. She was called Goldie as she had a golden eagle on the front. I hadn't realised that was a seriously big car!

I can see I look in pain in this as I have gritted teeth!

I managed, over the course of three days, to complete this page though (unheard of for me to do so little scrapping)

Today I am thankful for

pain relief cycles. I am living my life in 4 and 8 hour intervals at the moment!

July 13, 2018

Yesterday was going swimmingly. Nigel went to work and I went to art. I had a lovely time - they are a super group of people. We had a cinema visit planned in the evening - to go and see Skyscraper. The film was actually very good. When you suspended disbelief it was a good film and an enjoyable couple of hours.

What was not so enjoyable was the fall. Oh yes - following on last year's fall over an unlit step and causing an avulsion fracture in my left ankle, I surpassed myself last night. The cinema was dark as the adverts were playing and as I apologised to the two people in the row that I had to disturb, I stepped into a void. The steps are clearly marked with white tape/paint. However, a seat int he row in front of mine had been removed for repair and the empty space had no markings on it. Consequently, I thought I was stepping onto solid ground and I stepped into a void. As I fell I broke my fall, very carefully, on the arm of the next chair. I landed hard enough to bend the arm of the chair. Oh, my - the agony.

It resulted in an A and E visit (once again the NHS were amazing) and they diagnosed cracked rib/ribs. There is, of course, no treatment for that other than pain killer and rest. They checked breathing was OK and were very kind. It was not a good night. I slept little and very movement hurts like mad. I had no idea cracked ribs were so painful. I feel like my entire side should be jet black but it will take a few days for the bruising to become visible.

Cinemas are truly dangerour places - well for me anyway. In the words of GOT - the night is dark and full of terrors.

I have some new scrapping to share - made pre-injury

This is a page made with a selfie we took at the beach last week

and this is another with two similar photos taken the same day

and finally this is a page made with a new collection that is absolutely brim full of stuff called Roughing it in style by Jumpstart Designs

July 10, 2018

Thank goodness. The heat has been intense. It was 31 yesterday and so humid. And don't even get me started on my hair ... my hair is totally messed up - I could play Wurzle Gummage and not have to even wear a straw wig.

Yesterday we saught refuge at the beach where there was a little cool. Today we went for a walk to see birds at a local bird hide. We saw lapwing, godwits, egrets and spoonbills. Sadly no deer today but it was a nice walk and cool in the hide.

I have new scrapping to share - paper pages made for the new Shimelle layering class. To be honest I haven't wanted to scrap much the past few days as I have been very sad, but actually, when I motivated myself, it did take my mind off loss for a while.

Who doesn't love Woody and Jess?

and those of youwho know me know I have a thing about Minnie

and finally - a page for a prompt to scrap magical. It didn't get more magical than this for us last year

Today I am thankful for

slightly cooler air

many people donating to Dawn - please see yesterdays post

scrap therapy

birds watching

a successful vet trip yesterday - all vaccinated and checked again.

Finally - if you want to make a donation to Dawn's memorial bench click the picture below

All About Me

I am Scrapdolly - frequently answering to just Dolly. I live with my soulmate Nigel, two cats and a Fiki monster and I love to scrap. Scrapping is my creative outlet, my daily therapy, my sanity restorer and where I meet my friends. Come share it with me.